ACLU’s legal challenge to NSA wiretapping rebuffed

A US District Court ruled today that the plaintiffs in ACLU v. NSA don't have …

The ACLU suffered a major setback today in its lawsuit against the NSA, as the 6th District Court of Appeals voted to dismiss the organization's case in a 2-1 ruling. The court ruled that the plaintiffs in the ACLU case do not have the legal standing to sue the NSA for unfairly spying on them because it's not clear that any of them were actually spied on. Of course, because the warrantless wiretapping program is secret, we'll never know who was spied on without a warrant and who wasn't, so it's not clear how anyone could be seen as having the standing to bring a suit.

This isn't necessarily the end of the line for ACLU v. NSA, though. The ACLU issued a statement this afternoon that read, in part:

"It is important to emphasize that the court today did not uphold the legality of the government's warrantless surveillance activity. Indeed, the only judge to discuss the merits clearly and unequivocally declared that the warrantless surveillance was unlawful.

"We are currently reviewing all of our legal options, including taking this challenge to the U.S. Supreme Court. In the meantime it is now more important than ever for Congress to engage in meaningful oversight."

Speaking of congressional oversight, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy's office issued a statement shortly in response to the ruling that renewed the senator's call that the White House comply with his committee's subpoenas demanding information about the program. "There is a dark cloud over the White House's warrantless wiretapping program," the statement said, "and a full response to the outstanding subpoena from the Senate Judiciary Committee by this Administration would be a good start to clearing the air and moving forward in ways that allow us to better protect against terrorists while honoring the rule of law and the liberties of law-abiding Americans."

You can find more information on the suit, including a copy of the ruling and supporting documents, at the ACLU's NSA spying page.